


Red Spiders and Silver Bullets

by Lira169



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, I Tried, Light Angst, M/M, Not Beta Read, Peter Parker is a Mess, Romance, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-11
Updated: 2020-05-11
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:48:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,628
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24133846
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lira169/pseuds/Lira169
Summary: There are many things in the universe that are common knowledge, no matter the language and culture - food and water are needed for survival, the sky is blue in the morning, the grass is green, everyone is born with a soulmark on their body, unique to only them, and the soulmate they are destined for.Peter was six when he asked his Aunt May about the mark on his chest, right above his heart - a red spider, the size of his palm.The red spider would change his life, preferably for the better.
Relationships: Harley Keener/Peter Parker
Comments: 27
Kudos: 276
Collections: The Best Harley Keener & (or /) Peter Parker Fics





	Red Spiders and Silver Bullets

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Maya_Di_Angelo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maya_Di_Angelo/gifts).



> This was written for my friend Maya's birthday, It's also my first solo fic, so it may or may not be good. I apologise in advance? I promise it ends happy. I tried to make it as not-angsty as possible, even though angst is in my veins. I also don't like how I ended it, but that's life.
> 
> HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAYA
> 
> Happy reading!

There are many things in the universe that are common knowledge, no matter the language and culture - food and water are needed for survival, the sky is blue in the morning, the grass is green, everyone is born with a soulmark on their body, unique to only them, and the soulmate they are destined for.

Peter was six when he asked his Aunt May about the mark on his chest, right above his heart - a red spider, the size of his palm. 

"This is a special mark, Peter, a mark that will only be on two people in the whole world. You have one, and your soulmate has the other one."

"Soulmate?"

May nodded, her gentle eyes crinkling into a smile.

"Your soulmate is the one created for you, the one you are destined to love."

Peter nodded, his eyes wide with childlike curiosity.

"Are you and Uncle Ben soulmates?"

"Of course!"

May rolled up her sleeves to show her soulmark - a shiny silver bullet on her right shoulder.

Peter, in his excitement, reached out his hand to touch the mark, but stopped before he made contact. Even the six-year-old, in his immaturity, recognised the magnitude of a soulmark.

"What does it mean?"

May hummed, bringing Peter's hand to her shoulder in a gesture of consent.

"Soulmarks represent something important in our relationship. I met Ben when he rescued me from a mugger. The bullet is a symbol of how we met, but also a symbol of how important being a cop is to Ben. Nobody knows exactly what they represent until it happens."

Peter frowned, tracing the bullet with a finger. 

"Does that mean we'll meet because of a spider?"

May shrugged with giggle, and that was that.

Peter was terrified of spiders. Sometimes the soulmark's reflection on his mirror gave him a jumpscare. But he tried to be nicer to spiders, he always stuttered out a "hello" to a spider on the wall, and was careful of where he stepped to avoid harming any spiders. If spiders were the key to meeting his soulmate, he didn't want to unknowingly mess up his chances.

That was why, when a red spider landed on his hand in an Oscorp laboratory, his first reaction was not to slap it away. Instead, he watched as the spider bit him, felt his hand heat up as the venom entered his veins, and only stopped staring when the spider dropped to the floor, unmoving.

He felt shocked, and hopeful, even as his body started feeling weird. Because that was a red spider, like the one above his heart, which meant something. Deep down, he knew that the bite was going to change his life.

His only mistake was believing that it would change his life for the better.

And yeah, maybe it did seem that way, after the hours of pain had passed and he finally found a way to control his newly gained powers. He stopped sticking to everything he touched, and he was strong now!

As it turned out, he wasn't strong enough.

Well, physically he had a strength unmatched by majority of the human population. He just wasn't strong in character. That's why he let his emotions cloud his judgement. That's why he let the mugger go. 

That's why Uncle Ben died.

As he held his Uncle Ben in his arms, watching the light fade from his eyes, Peter wondered if his soulmark meant anything good at all.

Peter was fourteen when he sat beside May on the couch that felt too empty, listening to May's heartbroken sobs and watching as the bright silver of the bullet on her shoulder turned a final black. 

Ironic, wasn't it, that Ben and May's soulmark was a bullet, but his red spider was the one to take a life?

_With great power comes great responsibility._

He wasn't responsible. He _couldn't_ be responsible for his powers, but he was stuck with them, so he _made_ himself responsible. He couldn't change what had happened, so he made up for it. He used his powers to make sure no more bullets turned black. He took care of the "little criminals", muggers who posed little threat to an enhanced "hero" like him, but posed a huge threat to the Uncle Bens in the world. The black spider on his costume was a constant reminder to give up on finding his soulmate, because black was all that would come out of it.

He met Tony Stark. He went to Germany. He stole Captain America's shield. It was pretty cool. He was starting to actually feel like a hero. If _Tony Stark_ trusted him, then he was actually doing something _good._

Only the good didn't last. Mr. Stark never called him, until he did. He tried to do good on his own and messed up and Mr. Stark was upset at him, for good reason. He took on something he could barely handle and lifted a building off of himself and crashed a plane. He almost became an avenger. He and Mr. Stark were getting closer and he was getting recognition for his work and he still felt empty. He allowed himself to wonder if he was missing his soulmate.

But he never looked, because he didn't think he deserved them.

Then he met Harley Keener.

"Peter! Come in. There's someone I want you to meet," Tony greeted as Peter stepped into his workshop, "Peter, meet Harley. Harley, meet Peter. You are both my unofficial sons, and I have great judgement in people, so I believe you two will get along."

Peter walked over to the workbench, setting down his schoolbag and turning to Harley, who hadn't looked up from the gauntlet he was working on. He took a moment to observe this new boy, who looked about his age, with blond hair that begged to be touched.

"Uh, hi. Mr. Stark never mentioned you."

"Hm?"

And _oh,_ Harley had the brightest set of blue eyes Peter had ever seen. He could drown in those eyes and die a happy gay boy. 

Harley smiled uncertainly at him, and there was another _pang_ in his chest, like his own heart was trying to burst out and run away with the unreasonably atrractive boy before him.

"Oh. Hi." Harley turned to Tony in question, clearly having not heard anything that happened in the past ten minutes.

Tony rolled his eyes.

"Harley. Peter. There. There's your introduction, I'm not doing this again."

"Mr. Stark said that you're also his unofficial son?" Peter probed, wanting to find out more about the boy (and definitely not gaining intel on his potential competitor in case Tony only wanted one pseudo son-figure).

"Oh, yeah," Harley said with a shrug and went back to tinkering with his current project, "he fell into my garage, I helped fix his suit and defeat the Mandarin, and then he just disappeared and I guess he felt bad because he renovated my garage and paid for my school fees and keeps sending me cool stuff to work with."

"And I finally got him to agree to fly out here to be my personal intern," Tony said, a smirk on his face, illuminated by the blue light of his holograms.

"Yeah, that," Harley rolled his eyes, "this old man refused to leave me alone so I just had to come to shut him up. Plus this increases my chance of meeting Spider-Man, which is cool."

_Wh-_

Harley, cute boy, potential competitor, was a fan of _Spider-Man?_

Tony scoffed.

"All that work into raising this kid and he prefers Spider-Man over Iron Man. Useless."

"Please, Stark, I helped fix your suit. I know how it works. Spider-Man's tech is a mystery and he uses webs and he protects the little people. He's also not about to fall over and die because he isn't a hundred years old, right, Peter?"

Peter's eyes widened. Behind Harley, Tony was trying to hide his snicker by burying his face in one of his elbows. Tony managed a shake of his head to indicate that Harley did not know about Peter's spider friend.

"Uh, yeah, I guess Spider-Man is cool."

Harley let out a huff.

"One day I will find someone who actually appreciates Spider-Man. He's way too underrated. So how did you meet this man-child?"

"Uh," Peter knew he was terrible at lying, but he was decent at half-truths. Even Tony had abandoned his current project, curious to see how Peter would handle this (Tony was definitely eager to see Peter screw this one up). The vaguer the better, then.

"He just came to my house one day and offered me an internship."

Harley narrowed his eyes - those blue, blue eyes, and then shrugged.

"Honestly? That wouldn't be the weirdest thing the old man has done."

Then something exploded, as was expected when three geniuses were put in a lab together.

It would be three days later until Peter met Harley again. Well, technically, it was a week. Since the disaster that was his homecoming, Tony decided to give him an _actual_ internship (which, unofficially, was just permission for Peter to experiment with stuff in Tony's private lab) that required his presence once a week. However, Spider-Man was supposed to report in every Sunday evening for suit maintenance and upgrades, and that's how Harley met his favourite superhero.

"Hey Mr. Stark, I brought a burrito from that one shop in that street corner that you like, there was a bank robbery a few blocks away and I thought, why not, you know? Plus one of the robbers complained about being hungry when I webbed him up so I bought one for him too, I mean I don't know how he's going to eat it without his hands but I hope he finds a way because it sucks to be hungry and nobody deserves-"

"Spider-Man, mask, now."

Oh.

Peter hurriedly yanked his mask over his face. Tony had Harley's eyes covered, and Harley was respectfully not fighting to see Spider-Man's face. Peter actually forgot about Harley.

Tony removed his hands over Harley's eyes, and Harley's annoyance at Tony quickly morphed into excited wonder as he looked at Peter in his costume.

"Woah. You're Spider-Man. Hi, I'm Harley, I'm such a huge fan! Do your webs come from your body?"

"Uh, no, they're synthetic."

Peter didn't think it was possible for Harley to get any more excited. He was practically vibrating where he stood.

"Alright, introductions are over. Harley, I called you here because we are working on new web ideas, and I need a fresh perspective," Tony said, taking the offered burrito with a nod of thanks and biting into it, "so far we have webs that catch fire, webs that light up to capture attention and act as signals, and webs that… turn into confetti?"

"I believe that was an idea from Thursday, sir. You instructed me to note it down before you collapsed from sleep deprivation," FRIDAY piped up.

Tony nodded. 

"Yeah, okay, scrap that idea. Harley, Spidey, ideas?"

"What about webs that carry trackers? They're sticky enough that they cannot be completely removed, and it will help with tracking down criminals that get away," Harley proposed.

Tony shrugged, "I don't see why not, good thinking, kiddo. Now, shall we get to work?"

Tony left Peter to show Harley how he made his web fluid, and they spent half the time making web fluid, and the other half implementing changes to the fluid to make the different types of proposed webs.

Harley never stopped looking at Peter with admiration, and Peter never got Harley's eyes out of his head.

Their little dance around each other lasted months, spanning many sessions as Harley and Peter, and many sessions as Harley and Spider-Man, where Peter never took his eyes off Harley, and Harley's glances at Spider-Man became more curious. Peter didn't like the vulnerability that came with liking someone, and hoped his infatuation would fade.

Summer came, and Peter stayed over at the Tower. The infatuation did not fade, but grew stronger with every day that he spent with Harley. He was just drawn to the other boy. He loved the intelligence Harley showed when they worked in the lab together, he loved Harley's charms, he loved Harley's little mannerisms and the responsible side that emerged when Harley called his younger sister to check up on her. 

Peter just couldn't help dreaming of blue ocean eyes, of endearing smirks, couldn't help wondering how Harley's lips would taste, or how Harley's arms would feel around him. Peter was very screwed.

He didn't even know if they were soulmates - they couldn't be, right? Peter's soulmark was a symbol for death, and Harley was full of life. There was no way someone like Harley would bear the mark of the deadly spider that hurt everyone around him.

But Harley was good. Harley loved Spider-Man. That had to mean that Peter was _good,_ right?

Or maybe it meant that Peter had finally been able to make Spider-Man into what Peter Parker could never be.

Whatever the reason, Peter knew he would never be with Harley, not really. Harley had a soulmate who was better than a boy trying to play hero.

So it continued, the song and dance. Peter noticed the little glances Harley sent his way, the subtle smiles, he could hear Abby teasing Harley over the phone about living with "the cute boy". Peter himself wasn't any better, but neither of them ever made their move.

And if it were up to Peter, they'd probably live their whole lives pining, but when was it ever up to him?

It started out as a good day. Peter and Harley had gone out for ice cream (definitely not a date), and they were walking back to the tower when it started raining, which would have been perfectly fine - extremely inconvenient, but _fine_ \- if Peter had not decided to wear a white shirt.

Harley turned to check on Peter as they ran for cover, and stopped abruptly, mouth agape. Peter stopped with him, standing soaking wet in the middle of the rain while people rushed for cover around them.

"Harley? What's wrong?"

Peter's spidey sense was tingling, which was never a good sign. He frantically looked around for any source of danger, but turned back to Harley when he couldn't find one. Harley was still standing frozen, his gaze locked on something. Peter followed his line of vision to-

The red spider, showing through soaked white fabric.

But that meant-

"Harley?"

Harley snapped back to attention, looking at Peter in a daze.

"Peter…"

Slowly, as if in slow motion, Harley undid the buttons of his shirt. One by one, buttons were undone, until finally Peter could see the same red spider on skin that wasn't his.

Seeing the spider, the same spider that haunted his waking moments, the spider he refused to acknowledge on the soulmate he refused to look for broke something in him, a barrier removed from the dam of his emotions.

His tears flowed as freely as the rain down his face, and suddenly he felt six again, with his hand raised, wanting to touch the soulmark but not knowing if he could.

"Can I-"

Harley answered without words, taking his hand and pressing it to the mark on his chest.

Just like that, his world righted itself. The air felt easier to breathe. He no longer felt burdened by his sins.

All he could see, all he could feel, all he could _breathe_ was Harley, and he let himself drown in the blue eyes, somehow knowing that Harley would rescue him.

They would stand there for hours in the rain, just looking into each other's eyes, hand on each other's soulmark. Tony would call Harley to ask if they were okay because they were gone for a long time, and they would walk back to the Tower, hands held in a grip so tight they couldn't be forced apart.

They broke away to shower after Tony's screeching at their wet clothing, and met again after dinner, when Harley knocked on Peter's bedroom door, shirtless, red spider on display.

"I always hoped it was you," Harley whispered, when they laid side by side on Peter's bed, Harley tracing the outline of Peter's red spider, "you always captivated me, and I had such a crush on you but I didn't want to make the move because I wasn't sure, and now I'm glad we're soulmates."

"Yeah?" Peter grinned, grabbing Harley's hand and caressing his fingers, "I was crushing hard on you, too."

And Peter felt _happy._ He should feel remorse for giving into the spider, he should be suspicious about Harley because the red spider did not make good people, but Harley was all he could think about and he wouldn't have it any other way. Just the thought of Harley being destined for him, to love him unconditionally, to accept his flaws, brought on a wave of happy emotions so huge it spilled over into his eyes and overflowed with his tears.

Harley stilled and lifted his hand to Peter's cheek, brushing away his tears.

"Peter? Are you okay?"

Peter let out a shaky laugh.

"Yeah, I am, I just want this to be real, you know? I don't want to wake up and find out it was all just a dream."

"Yeah, me too. I can't believe I deserve someone like you. You're such a good person, Peter, I'd be lucky to be half the person you are."

Peter turned and buried his face into Harley's neck.

"Harley, no, I am not a good person. If anything, I'm trying to be good enough for you."

"Oh?" Harley said, running his hand absentmindedly through Peter's brown locks of hair, "pray tell, how am I better than Spider-Man?"

Peter snapped his head up, wide hazel eyes meeting amused blue eyes.

"W-what are you talking about?"

Harley guided Peter's head back to his neck so he could continue playing with his hair.

"I found it odd at first how the spider on Spider-Man's costume matched mine exactly, apart from the colour. Before I saw your mark, I wondered if Spider-Man was my soulmate, but when I found out about us it just clicked. Spider-Man is as smart as you are, and you are definitely smart enough to design your own web formula, you disappear every night to god knows where and come back bruised and Tony doesn't even freak out about it, and the black spider is exactly the same size and design on exactly the same spot. Not to mention, when I first met Spider-Man and you forgot to put your mask on, I found the voice extremely familiar. There's no need to hide, Peter."

Peter sighed onto Harley's skin, lifting a hand to idly caress Harley's soulmark.

"Why did you make it black?"

"My uncle died because of me. I made my aunt's soulmark turn black, so I don't deserve a soulmate."

Harley's hands stilled.

"Do you regret finding out about us?"

Peter shook his head.

"Alright, then listen to me," Harley said, his hand continuing its soothing movement through Peter's hair, "Peter middle name Parker, you are the best person I have ever met. I was a fan of Spider-Man before I met you, and I love him even more, knowing the person under the mask. Spider-Man has saved countless lives and inspired me to be a better person and to be a hero to my sister, and I know you have inspired many others, too. If there is more good in the world, know that you are the cause of it. I don't know what happened with your uncle or why you blame yourself for it, but I know that he would not blame you, not even a little bit. You're a good person, Peter, and I'm honoured to be your soulmate."

Harley's words were the forgiveness Peter had been hoping for, a release from his sins. He remembered Uncle Ben dying in his arms, and Aunt May's soulmark turning black, but he now also remembered what he refused to acknowledge.

Uncle Ben smiled as he looked at Peter in his last moments. There was no blame in his eyes, only love and hope that Peter would grow up to be a good man.

On the night that Uncle Ben died, Peter hugged his Aunt May and asked if she regretted meeting Uncle Ben because of how much it hurt to know he was gone.

_"Never, Peter. Not once in my life have I ever regretted meeting him. It's better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all. It hurts now, but he brought me a lot of happiness. I hope you find your soulmate too, because you deserve to be happy. Ben would want you to be happy."_

All this time, Peter had blamed himself, when it was clear that nobody else held him responsible. He tortured himself so much about Uncle Ben's death that he forgot how to live. 

"Thank you, Harley."

"No, _thank you,_ Peter, for being my soulmate," Harley pulled back so Peter could see the sincerity on his face, "although I guess the black can stay. A red spider would be invisible on your red and blue suit."

Peter let out a wet laugh, and everything was okay.

Tony would freak, tomorrow, when Peter and Harley shared a kiss over breakfast, and May would call Peter to yell at him for not telling her the moment he found out (and also for standing in the rain for hours), and who knew what obstacles awaited them in the future?

But they had each other, and that's all that mattered.


End file.
